Saved By The Sabbath

¹“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” (Genesis 2:3). It is very fortunate that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Unless a major artery is nicked during the process of nailing a victim to a cross, those who are crucified generally must suffer for several days before finally dying from some combination of starvation, thirst, exhaustion, asphyxiation, and exposure. Since Jesus did not bleed out immediately but hung upon the cross for at least a few hours, it's safe to assume that no arteries were nicked and Jesus may have needed to endure for at least a couple of days before death finally took Him. But because He was crucified on a Friday afternoon, the religious leaders, who had no compunctions about slaying the very Son of God, could nevertheless not abide the idea of leaving living victims suspended from crosses after sundown on Friday since that would have been a violation of the Sabbath. Giving into their prodding, Roman soldiers decided to hurry the deaths of Jesus and the other two who were crucified with Him by breaking their legs. But when the soldiers came to Jesus, He appeared to be dead already. So they thrust a spear into His side just to double check and sure enough He was dead, despite having hung upon the cross for only a few hours. If Jesus had been crucified on a different day, or if the Jewish leaders were less strict to observe the Sabbath, then Jesus may have needed to prolong His suffering for at least a couple of days. Instead, Jesus was saved by the Sabbath. As the Jehovah of the Old Testament and under the direction of His Father, Jesus had blessed and sanctified the Sabbath as a day to rest from all of His work. And once again, after He had shed the last drop of precious blood and paid the uttermost farthing for the sins of the world, so that He could finally say, It is finished, He once again could thank and bless and sanctify the Sabbath as a day on which He could rest from all of His work. I hope we too will be grateful for and bless and sanctify the Sabbath as a day to rest from all our work. If we will let it, the Sabbath can save us too from having our suffering prolonged past what it needs to be.